The Black Cat

"Things you never said before nor even dreamed of!"

1934 1h 5m EN

👍

6.7

SOLID

★6.7TMDB · 315

HorrorThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

After a road accident in Hungary, the American honeymooners Joan and Peter and the enigmatic Dr. Werdegast find refuge in the house of the famed architect Hjalmar Poelzig, who shares a dark past with the doctor.

“Things you never said before nor even dreamed of!”

WhatsApp X Facebook Telegram

Where to watch · US

Amazon VideoRent

Apple TV StoreRent

Google Play MoviesRent

Google Play MoviesBuy

YouTubeBuy

Fandango At HomeBuy

Cast

Boris Karloff
Hjalmar Poelzig
Bela Lugosi
Dr. Vitus Werdegast
David Manners
Peter Alison
Julie Bishop
Joan Alison
Egon Brecher
The Majordomo
Harry Cording
Thamal
Lucille Lund
Karen
Henry Armetta
The Sergeant

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Edgar G. Ulmer
Writers: Peter Ruric, Peter Ruric, Edgar G. Ulmer
Languages: French, Hungarian, English, Latin
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Tight 65-minute runtime — shorter than most television pilots.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $0.1M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

92 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 4 languages: French, Hungarian, English, Latin.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Edgar G. Ulmer, shot by John J. Mescall. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Ray Curtiss shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi and David Manners carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Things you never said before nor even dreamed of!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Edgar G. Ulmer directs. John J. Mescall behind the camera. Ray Curtiss cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in French, Hungarian, English, Latin.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Tight 65-minute runtime — shorter than most television pilots.
2Shot for just $0.1M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
392 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
4Dialogue crosses 4 languages: French, Hungarian, English, Latin.
5Directed by Edgar G. Ulmer, shot by John J. Mescall. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Editor Ray Curtiss shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi and David Manners carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "Things you never said before nor even dreamed of!".
9IMDB entry: tt0024894 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 28 themes, including "chess", "prisoner of war", "hungary", "black and white".

The technical file

Cinematography: John J. Mescall
Editing: Ray Curtiss
Costume design: Edgar G. Ulmer
Makeup / hair: Jack Pierce
Runtime: 65 min · 1h 5m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $95,745
Box office: $236,000
Return: 246% of budget
Original language: EN
IMDB: The Black Cat (1934)

Also by

Edgar G. Ulmer

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2018-10-01
★ 7/10
Weird and hypnotic creeper. The first, and arguably in terms of their dual performances, best teaming of Horror legends Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi is this almost bizarre Edgar G. Ulmer directed piece. Based around a story by Edgar Allan Poe, The Black Cat sees a young couple, Peter & Joan Allison (David Manners & Julie Bishop), who while on their honeymoon in Budapest meet the mysterious scientist Dr. Vitus Verdegast (Lugosi). When the bus taking them to the hotel crashes and Joan is injured, the trio wind up at the home of Verdegast's old acquaintance Hjalmar Poelzig (Karloff). Where the troubled history between Verdegast and Poelzig comes to light and thus spells immense danger for the newly married Allison's. Excellently directed by Ulmer, The Black Cat still today has the ability to genuinely unnerve the viewer. Filled with an overwhelming sense of dread throughout, Ulmer and his on form leading men have crafted a superb study of character evil. Flanked by a magnificent set design and with a script that does Poe proud, the piece pot boils until its brutal and frenzied climax. Karloff and Lugosi are particularly impressive (check out the chess match sequences), lending the film its timeless quality, with Karloff's Poelzig apparently being based on real life occultist Aleister Crowley. While the music, featuring some of the biggest names of classical composition, is an extra haunting character all by itself. It's a far from flawless picture, but it remains a unique, literate and important film in the pantheon of classic horror. 7/10
CinemaSerf2022-06-13
★ 7/10
This great pairing of Messrs. Karloff and Lugosi make for a fun, if not particularly scary, horror movie from Universal. An honeymoon couple are travelling through Hungary when their bus is involved in an accident near the castle of "Hjalmar Poelzig" (Karloff). Together with fellow traveller "Vitus Werdegast" (a slightly theatrical Lugosi) they seek refuge and find themselves caught up in a tale of retribution between the two men that results in a game of chess not seen since the "Seventh Seal". It doesn't hang about - only just over an hour of creepily shot, tautly directed drama that makes for a spookily engaging watch with quite a bit of jeopardy right to the end...